Dark Matter
"Dark Matter" is the second episode of Season 2 of Dark. Synopsis Clausen and Charlotte interview Regina. The Stranger takes Hannah to 1987, where Claudia has an unnerving encounter and Egon visits an old nemesis. Plot 2053 Jonas scurries about the God Particle lab at the derelict nuclear plant, listening to Claudia's notes recorded on cassette tape. She says that with sufficient AC voltage, the God Particle becomes stable, and can be used for time travel. Its matter is constantly rearranging itself, existing in multiple phases, and with no radioactive decay, which seems to contradict the second law of thermodynamics. At last, Jonas pulls a switch, and electricity arcs into the God Particle, causing it to settle into a smooth sphere right above the platform. Soon, however, the room goes dark and it resumes its stormy previous state. A frustrated Jonas realizes the generators are out of diesel. 1987 On June 22, Mikkel awakes in what we usually know as Jonas' bedroom, also from a nightmare. He goes downstairs as Ines, now his adoptive mother, prepares his lunch. She sees his expression and tells him there is only one week of school left before the summer break; he tells her he is depressed not because of school, but because it is his mother's birthday. She reminds him that the past is past and now is now. Egon visits Claudia with something to report. She says she is too busy to do anything with him that day, however, as she must meet with a French delegation. She shouts for Regina to hurry up. When the dog runs into the room, and Egon remarks how similar she looks to Gretchen, her childhood pet, unnerving Claudia. 2020 At work, Charlotte examines the photo with Agnes and Noah that Elisabeth had found. She does a web search on "Sic Mundus Creatus Est" and finds it translated as "Thus the world was created." Clausen enters, interrupting her, and snaps that she has either forgotten about the Tiedemann interview or has found something better to do. Charlotte mumbles an excuse, then asks why they are staring with Regina. Clausen suspects a connection between the power plant, the caves, and the fact that Aleksander took his wife's name when they married. At the Doppler home, Magnus accuses Franziska of prostituting herself for money, having seen her swap take envelopes from a stash also used by Benni. She informs him that she is providing hormones to Benni for her sex change, which Benni used to get from Peter, but not since he stopped using her services. She is furious with Magnus for spying on her, and hates Winden and the secrets and judgments of its residents. Hannah leafs through old family photos, happier times. The older Jonas brings his time machine into the kitchen and tells her he wants to use it so she can see with her own eyes that Michael and Mikkel are the same person. 1987 Mikkel hesitantly walks to the school. He is shoved by the teenage Katharina, while the younger Hannah looks on. Instead of entering the school, he turns around and walks away. As Claudia heads to her office, her assistant tells her a woman has come to claim the dog. Claudia greets her but stops when she notices that the strange woman has heterochromia, like her, with one blue eye and one brown eye, and knows her childhood dog's name was Gretchen. She introduces herself as the older Claudia, who has come to give her instructions. Egon receives a call telling him his cancer has spread, and he will need to start treatment that week. He sees a newspaper headline pointing out that the disappearance of Mads Nielsen was never solved. Pulling out his old notebook, he sees his note asking why Helge did not take the forest road home. The older Claudia tells 1986 Claudia that she remembers the same conversation, as her, and predicts what will transpire in the office below. She says she was the one who took Gretchen back in 1953, and released her again in 1986, and is now there to make sure history repeats itself exactly. 2053 Jonas climbs to an upper floor of a ruined apartment building and wires batteries, an old CD player, and speakers together. He blasts Elvis singing "Suspicious Minds" out the window and hurries downstairs. An armored personnel carrier drives up, unloading a heavily armed gang who head into the building, leaving one guard. Jonas climbs into the back and siphons diesel from the tank, scrambling to safety just as the lookout walks around the back of the vehicle to inspect. 1987 The teenage Regina and Aleksander are alone in the woods. She asks if he believes in ghosts, since he is reading a book about demons that parents pass on to their children. He tells her there is nothing negative she has received from her mother. Regina says Claudia has never told her she loves her. Aleksander tells her that he loves her. 2020 The police interview with Regina is underway at the Tiedemann home. Clausen asks about her relationship with Ulrich Nielsen, but she says they hardly have any contact with the Nielsens at all. Clausen asks why Ulrich visited the hotel the day he disappeared, and she tells him he asked about Mads' disappearance, she being the last one to see him alive. Clausen changes the subject to Aleksander, asking why he took her last name. Regina does not understand the relevance of the question and is irritated. Charlotte tries to end the interview, but Clausen shushes her and presses Regina to tell him more. She tells him a stranger who looked like a homeless man had asked for a room, but had never returned, after asking her to mail a package to Jonas. She kept all of his papers in a box, which she retrieves. Charlotte looks through the papers and recognizes some from her grandfather's book. She excuses herself, saying she needs to take Elisabeth to swim lessons, and that Clausen should take a taxi back. Clausen continues to press Regina about the stranger. The older Jonas, meanwhile, has taken Hannah deep into the caves. She asks why they are going, and he tells her it is safer to travel from there. He activates the machine, and causing a small black sphere to appear. This grows until it encompasses them, and then disappears with them. 1987 Mikkel, having ditched school, is by himself in the woods, and runs toward the cave. Noah is sitting outside, nonchalantly eating an apple, and asks if he is supposed to be in school. Mikkel recognizes him from the hospital. Noah tells him not to go into the cave, as some had entered and never returned. Mikkel asks Noah if he knows about God's plan, and whether it was possible that God had made a mistake. Noah curtly replies that God is never wrong, and one merely needed to keep the faith. Egon finds Helge, who has been institutionalized, and says he has been meaning to visit for some time. He asks him, somewhat abruptly, why Helge had taken the long way home instead of the forest road. Helge replies cryptically that the man with the stone (Ulrich) had told him he could change everything, but not even the White Devil could change history. The Claudias are in the secret cave with the nuclear waste from the incident. The older Claudia tells her younger counterpart about the time machine, and that it can transport them 33 years backwards or forwards, and it takes 33 years for the cycle to complete. The next cycle would complete in five days. She charges the younger Claudia with stopping Adam, then activates the machine. Before she disappears, she warns her that life is a collection of missed opportunities, and that the younger Claudia does not have much time left with Regina. 2053 As Jonas emerges from the hole under the barrier wall, he finds guns pointed at him: he has been caught. He is next seen in a gallows, with a noose around his neck, as Silja, interpreting for Elisabeth, reminds him that the penalty for going behind the wall was death. Jonas defiantly asks Elisabeth why she is lying about what is in the restricted zone, to which Elisabeth shoots him in the leg. He shouts that the passage will never open and the prophecy is false, and Elisabeth kicks the board out from under him, causing him to choke. After a few seconds, however, Elisabeth shoots the rope and he falls to the ground. He bleeds around his neck where the noose was tightened, the cause of the scars seen in the older Jonas. 1987 Egon calls the police station and asks whatever happened to the man arrested in 1953 for the attempted murder of Helge, when the other two dead boys were found. It turns out that he is still alive, in a mental institution. Egon goes there, and is told the man has never had any visitors, and has never given his name. When they meet, Ulrich quotes him the same lines he had given many years ago: "My only aim is to take many lives; the more, the better I feel." Egon asks what they mean, but Ulrich calls him an idiot. He knows, however, that Egon is dying of cancer, and tells him that everyone gets what he deserves. Mikkel returns home from the cave; a worried Ines, who knows he skipped school, embraces him. She does not press him about how he spent his day, and tells him she will make him Toast Hawaii to cheer him up. It was her childhood comfort food, with cherries on top, and her father would dance like Elvis. Mikkel asks her if she believes in God, and if God has a plan. She replies that His plan was for Mikkel to be with her, and for her to take care of him. She turns to prepare dinner, and without a word, Mikkel walks up and embraces her. 2053 Jonas is lying in a cage as Silja enters. Pointing a gun at him, she demands to know why Elisabeth did not kill him, and who he really is. When he does not answer, she unlocks the cage and tells him to show her what is inside the dead zone. They head in, don radiation suits, and enter the chamber with the God Particle. 1987 Hannah and the older Jonas, having arrived in 1987, watch Mikkel and Ines outside the Kahnwald house. Ulrich stares out his window into the dark, while Egon continues to search through his old files. Claudia, following the older Claudia's instructions, digs a hole in her yard, and finds a buried time machine. 1953 The older Claudia buries the time machine in an empty field—the house has not yet been built. 2020 Charlotte studies the photo of her and her grandfather. Peter enters and hugs her. 2053 Jonas pours his stolen diesel into the generator tanks, and starts up the machinery again. Silja asks for an explanation, and Jonas says that Claudia said it was a portal. It is his only hope of returning "home," but he does not know if it will work. As the God Particle solidifies again into a smooth sphere, he puts his arm inside, withdraws it, then steps inside, vanishing, after which the God Particle erupts again. Quotes * Noah: Sometimes we don't really know where we should be. I wouldn't be going in there—it's like a maze in there; some don't come back out. Mikkel: At the hospital, something you said... about God and how He has a plan for everyone. What if God doesn't know what He's doing? If the plan is wrong? If God is wrong? Noah: God is never wrong. Sometimes we need faith that things will get better for us again. * Egon: Tell me why you wouldn't take the forest road? Helge: He said he could change it—that he could change everything, the future and past. Egon: Who told you that? Helge: The man with the stone, but that was 30 years ago. Egon: What's this to do with Mads at all? Helge: Nobody can change it. Nobody! Not even the white devil! * Ulrich: "My only aim is to take many lives. The more, the better I feel." Egon: I've heard that. You've said those words before. What the hell does it mean? Ulrich: It means you're still an idiot who doesn't understand. You have to hurry now. You don't have much time until you're dead and buried. It was in the papers. Egon: I'm not following you. Ulrich: No, of course you aren't. Maybe that's your fate: to die as clueless as you were born, you know? Everybody gets what they deserve. * Ines: There are some days you just have to forget about. * Silja: What is that? Jonas: She said that it's a portal. Silja: Who? Jonas: Tapes of a woman talking. Her name is Claudia Tiedemann. I know it sounds crazy, but that could very well be our way to get home. I don't know if it works. Silja: You're going in? Jonas: Whether I die out here or in there doesn't matter. Cast *Louis Hofmann as Jonas Kahnwald *Daan Lennard Liebrenz as Mikkel Nielsen *Anne Ratte-Polle as Ines Kahnwald (1986) *Julika Jenkins as Claudia Tiedemann (1986) *Christian Pätzold as Egon Tiedemann (1986), *Lydia Makrides as Regina Tiedemann (1986) *Karoline Eichhorn as Charlotte Doppler *Sylvester Groth as Investigator Clausen *Carlotta von Falkenhayn as Elisabeth Doppler *Gina Stiebitz as Franziska Doppler *Moritz Jahn as Magnus Nielsen *Maja Schöne as Hannah Kahnwald *Nele Trebs as Katharina Nielsen (1986) *Ella Lee as Hannah Kahnwald (1986) *Lisa Kreuzer as Claudia Tiedemann *Béla Gabor Lenz as Aleksander Tiedemann (1986) *Deborah Kaufmann as Regina Tiedemann *Mark Waschke as Noah *Peter Schneider as Helge Doppler (1987) *Sandra Borgmann as Elisabeth Doppler (2053) *Stephan Kampwirth as Peter Doppler *Winfried Glatzeder as Ulrich Nielsen (old, 1987) Gallery 2x02_0000_JonasSwitch'.jpg 2x02_0001_ReviewPlans.jpg 2x02_0002_DarkMatter.jpg 2x02_0003_MikkelAwakes.jpg 2x02_0004_80sPosters.jpg 2x02_0005_ComicBooks.jpg 2x02_0006_MikkelRoom.jpg 2x02_0007_InesConcerned.jpg 2x02_0008_TiedemannHouse.jpg 2x02_0009_EgonGretchen.jpg 2x02_0010_Claudia1987.jpg 2x02_0011_SicMundusPhoto.jpg 2x02_0012_SicMundusPhotoBack.jpg 2x02_0013_CharlotteDesk.jpg 2x02_0014_UlrichWall.jpg 2x02_0015_ClausenCloseup.jpg 2x02_0016_ElisabethBook.jpg 2x02_0017_MagnusAccuses.jpg 2x02_0018_FranziskaAngry.jpg 2x02_0019_MagnusSilent.jpg 2x02_0020_Hannah1987.jpg 2x02_0021_JasminClaudia.jpg 2x02_0022_ClaudiaGretchen.jpg 2x02_0023_WhyNotForestRoad.jpg 2x02_0024_Claudias.jpg 2x02_0025_ClaudiaGretchen.jpg 2x02_0026_CDplayer.jpg 2x02_0027_JonasGasCan.jpg 2x02_0028_DerelictBuilding.jpg 2x02_0029_PostapocalypticWinden.jpg 2x02_0030_ArmedGang.jpg 2x02_0031_PatrolCloseup.jpg 2x02_0032_SiphoningDiesel.jpg 2x02_0033_YellowShoe.jpg 2x02_0034_AleksanderRegina.jpg 2x02_0035_Regina1987.jpg 2x02_0036_Aleksander1987.jpg 2x02_0037_Scars.jpg 2x02_0038_Kiss.jpg 2x02_0039_ClausenCharlotteRegina.jpg 2x02_0040_Clausen.jpg 2x02_0041_CharlotteReginaClausen.jpg 2x02_0042_CharlotteMystified.jpg 2x02_0043_JonasHannahApparatusCave.jpg 2x02_0044_NoahMikkel.jpg 2x02_0045_HelgeStickFigures.jpg 2x02_0046_EgonHelgeHospital.jpg 2x02_0047_ClaudiaCs137.jpg 2x02_0048_ClaudiasDrums.jpg 2x02_0049_ClaudiaApparatus.jpg 2x02_0050_JonasDeadZone.jpg 2x02_0051_JonasTunnel.jpg 2x02_0052_SiljaWaiting.jpg 2x02_0053_GunsDrawn.jpg 2x02_0054_JonasExecution.jpg 2x02_0055_ElisabethAngry.jpg 2x02_0056_JonasDesperate.jpg 2x02_0057_CutDown.jpg 2x02_0058_MadsNielsenFile.jpg 2x02_0059_PoliceintheDark.jpg 2x02_0060_Questions.jpg 2x02_0061_WithoutResult.jpg 2x02_0062_EgonPhone.jpg 2x02_0063_UlrichOld.jpg 2x02_0064_MikkelHug.jpg 2x02_0065_SiljaOrbLight.jpg 2x02_0066_JonasSiljaForest.jpg 2x02_0067_CharlotteSurprised.jpg 2x02_0068_TreasureMap.jpg 2x02_0069_ClaudiaDigs.jpg 2x02_0070_ClaudiaBuries.jpg 2x02_0071_FamilyHappiness.jpg 2x02_0072_StabilizingPortal.jpg 2x02_0073_SiljaMarvels.jpg 2x02_0074_Touching.jpg 2x02_0075_Entering.jpg Category:Episodes Category:Season 2